The invention relates to density determination of hydrocarbon liquids at elevated pressure.
In oil and gas production operations it is often desired to obtain reliable data on the characteristics of the fluid produced at exposed locations in the field. A particular problem is the density measurement of hydrocarbon liquids i.e. crude oils, gas condensate, LPG's at elevated pressure in production or test separators or in process vessels/lines. Furthermore, the presence of electric measuring instruments is unwanted in hazardous areas while the maintenance and calibration of complicated measuring devices may create considerable difficulties in terms of downtime of production, etc.
In view thereof, known densitometers such as mass flow meters in combination with volume flow meters and fluid sampling loops that require circulation pumps cannot be applied at many locations and the need exists for simple and reliable measuring techniques.